Organisation: Highvale Secondary College
Job Title: Graduate Teacher Program
Location: Glen Waverley
Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of initiatives in student learning including the
Principles of Learning and Teaching P-12 and the Assessment and Reporting Advice and the
ability to implement curriculum programs consistent with their intent
While teaching Biology and Science with Kilbreda College, a Catholic P-12 school located in
southeast Melbourne as a Student Teacher, I have been able to demonstrate my ability to
understand and adhere to the student learning initiatives that have been implemented to the
appropriate curriculum programs to support that learning environment.
Demonstrating my ability to implement curriculum programs consistent with their intent, I have
utilised various study designs, plans and standards to assist in the essential lesson content to
motivate and enable students to achieve excellent grade results in their final exams.
Utilising the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) Biology study design to plan and deliver
content for Unit 2: ‘How is continuity of life maintained?’ for my Year 11 students, I was able to
look at the learning objectives and compare the design to the corresponding lessons to cover all
components of the objectives whilst adapting the lesson plans to various student capabilities. The
results proved to me that my students comprehensively understood the knowledge that they were
learning from my method of teaching to diligently prepare them for their final exams.
In preparing lesson plans for Year 10 science students, I followed the Australian Victorian Essential
Learning Standards (AusVELS) foundation to shape my planning for students focus on the subject.
The subject lesson was “The biological advantages and disadvantages of asexual reproduction”. I
required students to choose an asexual reproduction species to analyse as a group task. Students
were required to apply their previous knowledge on ecology to this task, which is a combination of
both revision and exploration of new knowledge. The task was divided and supervised by myself,
strictly following the 5E model which helped me to motivate my class more easily. Grasping the
interests of my students motivates them to learn more about the lesson subject and promotes
teaching satisfaction when I am able to instil knowledge into the minds of my students that will
form long-term retention for the students. As a result of the implementation of my lesson plan
utilising the 5E model, the students demonstrated positive behaviour towards learning in the
classroom and had excellent results in their final assessment.
“The atomic structure and properties of elements are used to organise them in the Periodic Table”
was a lesson plan in the Year 10 of AusVELS Chemical Science program. The Year 10 lessons I had
created, aimed to address skill areas that were listed in both the VCE and AusVELS curriculum
documents to learn the foundation of chemistry. My advanced students benefited from the
program in having the opportunity to learn accelerated curriculum in preparation of an improved
VCE. As a result of my teaching methods, the majority of my students showed great interest in the
subject of chemistry and planned to choose the subject in their VCE. As I continuously kept current
with the changing curriculum, I ensured that my students are not learning the unnecessary
material that is not required for their final assessments and exams.
SC2 Demonstrated understanding of how students learn and effective classroom teaching
strategies and the capacity to work with colleagues to continually improve teaching and learning
Demonstrating my understanding of how students learn and utilising effective classroom teaching
strategies have been learnt through my own experience and requesting feedback and professional
advice from more experienced teaching staff.
In my teaching practice, I have used various teaching skills based on theories of learning,
specifically experiential learning, explicit instruction and social constructivism. Having excellent
experience in managing classroom behaviour and attention, I utilise Information Communication
Technology (ICT) in my teaching methods as I find my students pay extra attention in the use of
technology. The program entitled Kahootz provides my students additional interaction in the
lesson plans as they have access to iPads and computers. I choose applications that are interesting
yet educational such as a virtual dissection in which the students can fully participate.
While working in collaboration with my colleagues, I enjoy improving my teaching methods in
receiving suggestions and sharing methods that I have proved to be beneficial. Uploading my
changes in teaching methods to the school’s shared website enables my colleagues to read in their
own personal time. Additionally, I receive and give feedback during lunch breaks, staff meetings
and attending school excursions with my colleagues.
Improvised methods of teaching that I have experimented with and found successful was during a
lesson plan of Biology. I demonstrated the principles of social constructivism by organising
students to work along with more advanced students to create a learning experience that was
dynamic and in a dialogical way. In doing so, students are provided additional opportunities to use
the target language. Students benefited from peer learning as through their peers they can learn
using their own language rather than my formal language in teaching. Additionally, this allows
positive reinforcement in retaining the knowledge learnt.
In another example of improvising my methods of teaching and working with a senior teaching
staff member to improve my teaching methods, was during a Science lesson plan for Year 10
students at Ringwood Secondary College. The lesson plan was structured on Chemical Science and
the objective to take Chemistry as their VCE subject in Year 11. My senior colleague suggested
putting extra emphasis in motivating my students as they are advanced students who are planning
to study Science the following year. As a result, I learnt correct teaching methods in providing the
advanced students accelerated curriculum that matched their current zone of proximal
development.
The central element of my teaching placement at Kilbreda College is the ability to work with and
take constructive feedback from mentors as well as engage in my own reflection. I was fortunate
enough to have two Year 7 science classes with one following the other, which enabled me to
immediately adapt practices to improve learning outcomes. Prior to performing a practice
experiment with my class, I carried out a trial practical in my own personal time and recorded the
time taken. Additionally, I would also observe other Year 7 science classes and implement practical
changes to my lesson plans.
SC3 Demonstrated capacity to monitor and assess student-learning data and to use this data to
inform teaching for improved student learning
The analysis of teaching practice in my master studies and placements has emphasised the
importance of utilising a variety of student data sources to provide a baseline indication of
students’ current zone of proximal development and to measure progress after implementing
appropriate and differentiated learning.
In my placement with Ringwood Secondary College, I utilised summative assessment results to
review students’ progress in Year 10 science before the revision for a unit exams. The assessment
result showed that students did well on the basic part, but their performance decreased as the
content complexity increased. Therefore, I modified my lesson plan on teaching complex topic
theory parts as it helps me understand and improve student learning. My students revised more
on the complicated concepts and practiced more for the worksheets. This resulted in the
confidence level of my students learning abilities to rise and perform well in their assessments.
When marking and analysing student performance on formative assessments such as worksheets,
I noted many students did not understand the question or misunderstood the question and
therefore were unable to write an accurate and comprehensive answer. As a consequence, I
altered the focus of my teaching during the revision period to practice the sample exam type
questions so they were confident in their ability to respond correctly to the exam question. As a
result, students who finished all worksheets that I provided to them received higher marks in their
final exam.
Demonstrating my use of qualitative data, I would request from senior teaching staff a copy of
their previous self-assessments to I can ascertain of each individual students’ zone of proximal
development and literacy levels. Tailoring my lesson plan to the student’s current knowledge and
capability, I utilised the qualitative data as a baseline in assigning work groups during the
classroom lessons. As a result, students were able to have a form of self-reflection and discovered
their learning proximal.
An additional method to assess student-learning requirements is creating a short worksheet to be
completed by the students prior to their practice lesson. This indicates the student’s current
knowledge in regards to the procedures of the experiment in which they are about to perform.
Acting as a safety check, students are only permitted to touch their experiment equipment if they
correctly answer each question within the worksheet.
Creating trial exam papers for students to grasp complex ideas, prepares them for the final
assessment where they will be graded in their results. The performance of these trial exam papers
reflects whether the exam fits students’ current knowledge. As a result, my demonstrated capacity
to monitor and assess student learning through various use of data collation vitally assists me to
adjust my teaching methods for improved student learning.
SC4 Demonstrated high level written and verbal communication skills and high level
interpersonal skills including a capacity to develop constructive relationships with students,
parents and other staff
The centre of teaching practice is the educator’s ability to communicate sensitively and effectively
with students, colleagues and parents. In my teaching practices I have consistently demonstrated
my excellent capabilities to communicate in verbal and written formats.
In demonstrating my high level of written and verbal communication skills, I use a multi-sensory
approach in giving instructions to assist students with low literacy skills. My instructions were
written in short, clear sentences using large fonts and followed a logical sequence. Firstly, I
explained the reasons behind the lessons to my students. Secondly, I selected students to read
chosen portions, and then selected others to paraphrase the instructions to ensure clear
comprehension of what steps were to be followed. As a result, students were able to follow the
lesson plan and achieve satisfactory results.
Additionally, I provide extra assistance to students who have been absent from classes. This
assistance is offered to students during recess or after school. Providing tutoring during these
times, I communicate with my students individually and assist them according to their learning
requirements. This assists in developing a personal relationship with my students in an informal
setting. When attending an excursion to Queenscliffe, I was able to nurture my interpersonal skills
in having fun with the students during the bus trip, accommodation and meal times.
In developing constructive relationships with parents, I take full advantage of attending parent
teacher interviews. Many parents are from Chinese background and they don’t speak English very
well, so I offer to translate for the parents their concern for their child and also the teacher’s
comments to the parent in response. At Kilbreda College I observed parent-teacher interviews,
where I had the opportunity to see teachers deliver both positive and negative feedback or areas
for improvement to students and their parents. This gave an insight into the broad concerns that
parents have about their children learning and how life outside of school can have a significant
impact on students’ ability to learn.
Developing working network relationships with my colleagues is essential in furthering my
professional development as a teacher. In my teaching placements, I learnt a lot from the senior
teachers and enjoyed observing additional teachers and the methods they used when teaching.
Additionally, I would ask for feedback in their own experience working for a private and public
school and share ICT available to utilise in lesson plans.
To demonstrate an example of this, my placement with Kilbreda College enabled me to be apart of
the Biology teaching team, and the class I took was a LEEP class. This meant I was responsible for
delivering my topic at the same pace as other classes to ensure that my students were not
disadvantaged or advantaged in anyway. This involved regularly observing and meeting up with
other teachers to ensure content delivery was aligned and marking was consistent. I benefited
from using existing resources and I shared resources that I had created and adapted during my
time on placement with the team.
SC5 Demonstrated commitment and capacity to actively contribute to a broad range of school
activities and a capacity to reflect on, evaluate and improve professional knowledge and
practice
An important part of being an educator includes being an active member and role model in the
school and broader community of which the school is a part of. One of the main reasons I became
a teacher was to belong to a community of people who believe in the importance of education for
their children, one that moves beyond teaching knowledge within the classroom and focuses on
the whole child to support them to become productive people involved in the world around them.
To be an active educator in support of focusing on the whole child, I have participated and enjoyed
being a part of the school community at both Kilbreda College and Ringwood Secondary College.
During my first placement at Kilbreda College, I contributed to school activities outside of the
classroom including, but not limited to chemistry excursions, parent-teacher interviews, athletics
day and a Marine Discovery Excursion. Participating in the organising and management of the
excursion, I was able to attend and enjoy the opportunity of working collaboratively with my
colleagues and students and see the results of my efforts. As a result, the students were highly
engaged during the lessons and provided me positive feedback of how the excursion assisted
them to think critically and realistically about the issue.
At Ringwood Secondary College, there was ample opportunity to be involved and contribute to
activities outside of teaching. I was involved in attending Athletics Day, Curriculum Day, Chemistry
Pharmaceutical Excursions and the Biology Aquarium Excursion. Such experiences have enabled
me to reflect on, evaluate and improve my professional knowledge and practice. Exhibiting my
passion for teaching, I utilise ICT in my lesson plans to motivate my students in science. In regards
to mathematics, I have found that learning beyond the classroom assists in memory retention of
the concepts learnt. Additionally, for Year 12 exam orientation teaching, I provide instruction on
how to receive the correct marks for difficult questions and how to memorise concepts in the
most effective way.
This year I have taken the opportunity to involve myself in many professional development
sessions such as EdmodoCon and Math Ed Seminar. This session involved teaching mixed level
classes using ICT. This has assisted me in my teaching methods and with the help of ICT; I can
enhance students’ motivation and interests. For example, one of the atomic topics of forming of
ionic compound, I used an interactive computer simulation and accompanying worksheet to cater
for the variety of abilities presented in the class. I designed the questions, which required students
to draw pictures, answer in short sentences and work together to draw inferences from their
interactions with the program. As a result in utilising this method, not only did the students with
diagnosed learning difficulties but also those with low literacy levels generally, were able to
benefit from the lesson plan and they were not required a higher order writing skills to complete
the tasks successfully.
